Calling all ATOT Homeowners in the Northeast

[EagleKeeper]

Get paper backed fiberglass batts up as quickly as possible. Along the walls and roof.
You have 1-2 months left at the most before that cold air will start settling in and pushing down into the living/sleeping areas.

Then you can figure out what to do about finishing off the area.
Also consider come spring time; putting in gabble vent fan that is temperature controlled.
It will take a load off of the cooling system; pulling the built up hot air from the attic outside.

 

[DrPizza]

Get paper backed fiberglass batts up as quickly as possible. Along the walls and roof.
You have 1-2 months left at the most before that cold air will start settling in and pushing down into the living/sleeping areas.

Then you can figure out what to do about finishing off the area.
Also consider come spring time; putting in gabble vent fan that is temperature controlled.
It will take a load off of the cooling system; pulling the built up hot air from the attic outside.

There's no way that home was built in the northeast without insulation - it's under the floor.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah from seeing those pics it looks like this "room" is just the attic. It's actually more finished than most attics I've seen. There is very likely insulation in the floor and this attic space is currently not considered as part of the house's "envelope" but is considered outside.

Also I'm not a fan of paper backed insulation, if you're not going to do foam, better off using unfaced batts, then using a proper vapor barrier and red tape for the seams. I guess you could still use the red tape on the paper backed stuff though, and the drywall will press down against it anyway.

 

[Strk]

Yeah, that's really just an attic. A nice attic, but still just an attic. There's insulation under the floor. There will be a lot more to this project than you think (i.e. there's no duct work in there).

Oh, and wire mesh on the soffits. Squirrels are evil and must be stopped!

 

[ScoobMaster]

Looks like you have a cape cod house just like me. I actually did *exactly* what you are looking to do in my house a couple of years ago. In my case mine was already "finished" with a crappy drywall job and next to no insulation. I had a guy add two boards to the roof joists to allow an extra 2" for more fiberglass insulation. I added foam vent "raceways" to allow air to flow from the soffit vents to the ridge vent at the top.

Here is the photo album of the process and finished result:

Scoobmasters upstairs remodel project

I can answer any questions or you can PM me if you want any details. Good luck. Having that upstairs finished space (in my case - a bedroom for my son) adds a lot of room!

 

[EagleKeeper]

There's no way that home was built in the northeast without insulation - it's under the floor.

Agreed - but why allow the attic to leak warm area

 

[EagleKeeper]

Yeah from seeing those pics it looks like this "room" is just the attic. It's actually more finished than most attics I've seen. There is very likely insulation in the floor and this attic space is currently not considered as part of the house's "envelope" but is considered outside.

Also I'm not a fan of paper backed insulation, if you're not going to do foam, better off using unfaced batts, then using a proper vapor barrier and red tape for the seams. I guess you could still use the red tape on the paper backed stuff though, and the drywall will press down against it anyway.

Reason for paper backed recommendation is that you do not have to get scratched so easily and then you have the paper to staple to the wood rather than stuffing the insulation and putting strips to hold it until a proper interior is put up.

Technology may have improved a way to attach/seal over the past 50 years.

 

[MoMeanMugs]

If there is no insulation between that room and the lower floors, then you definitely will want to get it finished before hard winter sets in. I assume you're from New England, and know what to expect?

There is insulation in the floor already. No, I moved from down south, but I experience the winter here while house shopping. I'm learning my way slowly...

To go about insulating that attic, I'd definitely go with the baffles throughout each joist cavity, and spray foam. With ridge vent on top. Though, you could also go with a standard vent, since you would have a void above the horizontal spans which would need to be vented as well. Access door would be a good idea. I'd put some backing of sorts (plywood or even cardboard) and get that spray foamed too then drywall. The nice thing with spray foam is it also doubles as a vapor barrier and gets into every nook and cranny. With traditional vapor barrier it's easy to miss spots or have air leaks in awkward places where it's hard to tape it properly.

That's a pretty cozy looking space and would definitely make a cool movie room.

Yep, plan on the baffles going up to at least the flat part of the ceiling. Good idea on the access door as I'll probably run speaker wires and an HDMI cable through a conduit. It would be nice to have access to it.

Note: the knee wall would be the ideal place to stick your outlets, rather than on the sloping ceiling (if you let that sloping ceiling go all the way to the floor & left those vent pipes visible). Tip: when you're building that knee wall, after you cut all the vertical members, but before you do any nailing things together, just stack them on top of each other & drill down through all of them at once for running your electrical wiring. Makes life a bit easier later on, rather than crouching down & squeezing below the roof to drill those holes one at a time.

Maybe not for the pros, but I found that angle between the kneewall & the ceiling to be a bitch to get a perfect looking seam when I finished the drywall. Though, there's now a flexible corner thing (some sort of plastic) made for just such a place. Makes it a hell of a lot easier - I wish I had known about that product when I refinished my attic - took me 5 or 6 coats of mud plus a shitload of sanding before I was completely satisfied; I can do a normal wall in 3 coats very easily.

If I had to do it, I think I'd insulate all the way down the roof (with the rafter vents in place down to the soffit vents), starting from the level part of the ceiling. Then, prebuild the knee wall first, planning for it to go up against the ceiling drywall. As I built it, I'd make sure it was ready to run the wires through. But, I wouldn't fasten it to the floor immediately - I'd slide the ceiling drywall between that and the roof rafters. That way, the knee wall holds up one end of those awkward to handle pieces of drywall for the ceiling. Plus, you can just cut them 2 or 3 inches long & not worry about it. Stick in the boxes and wiring for the outlets. Then, slap your drywall on the knee walls & other vertical walls (some would need insulation.) It's a project that if you get that drywall to look good, is incredibly satisfying to see the results of and know you did it yourself.

edit: with the insulation on the roof & not on the knee walls, you could run the ceiling drywall as close to the floor as you can get it, then with a couple of removable panels on the kneewall, can turn the space behind the kneewall into "secret" storage.

Nice suggestions!

 

[MoMeanMugs]

BTW, I really appreciate all the input so far. It's been very helpful and highly appreciated!

 

[MoMeanMugs]

Looks like you have a cape cod house just like me. I actually did *exactly* what you are looking to do in my house a couple of years ago. In my case mine was already "finished" with a crappy drywall job and next to no insulation. I had a guy add two boards to the roof joists to allow an extra 2" for more fiberglass insulation. I added foam vent "raceways" to allow air to flow from the soffit vents to the ridge vent at the top.

Here is the photo album of the process and finished result:

Scoobmasters upstairs remodel project

I can answer any questions or you can PM me if you want any details. Good luck. Having that upstairs finished space (in my case - a bedroom for my son) adds a lot of room!

I'm definitely going to pick your brain!

 

[MoMeanMugs]

Some toys got delivered today, and so it begins...

I'll have to start a thread in the HT forum once the build starts. Have to focus on getting this room/attic/whatever you want to call it insulated and sheetrocked soon.

 

[Markbnj]

There is insulation in the floor already. No, I moved from down south, but I experience the winter here while house shopping. I'm learning my way slowly...

Heh, yeah, it will be a lot different than what you grew up with then. Below zero temps are quite common from January through late February or so. Lived in southern New Hampshire and worked in Boston and Vermont, and I can recall many mornings when the nose hairs froze instantly on exposure .